Race Against Dementia Charity Burns Dinner
Add Fast Chess with The Robert Burns Chess Set - to a Charity Burns Supper with a Michel Roux Jr. version of the Haggis - and what do you get? A £227,000 cheque, Mate!
To cap an excellent evening of chess, celebration, and raising funds for the Race Against Dementia charity founded by Formula One legend Sir Jackie Stewart, Joanne Cleland, former Scottish Chess Champion - at just 12! - returned to the board for the first time in years and faced off against Craig Thomson - who currently plays league chess with Queens Park, but was a former Glasgow School Boy Champion very many years ago! - in a series of electrifying games of Fast Chess to entertain the guests.
But this was Fast Chess with a difference, played with the unique Robert Burns Chess set in which all 32 pieces are different, all based on friends, characters and places from his life and works.
Craig Thomson confessed to the need for quick adaptation to a game with a difference, “It took a few Fast Games to get used to every chess piece being different. But once we got there, it added to the enjoyment. The wealth of pieces and their stories added an extra dimension to the game”..
Joanne, who was persuaded out of retirement from competition chess by the organizers, found the experience both novel and intriguing, “After so many years of absence from competition chess this was an unusual way to get back on the board - The Robert Burns Chess Set is a work of art, and it was so enjoyable playing on it at this event, I confess to being tempted to return to the competition circuit !”
All in all, it was a fantastic evening of chess, musical celebration, mixed in with the best of Robert Burns entertainment, graced by a Burns Repast superbly adapted by legendary Chef, Michel Roux Jr.
The main task of the night – to raise funds for Race Against Dementia - was achieved with flying colours with the money raised, including the raffle and auction - which included the Robert Burns Chess Set – returning a final total for RAD of an incredible £227,000.
Another Masterly Cheque, Mate!